Well, now that I have moved into my nice new pile
of rubble I promise not to change address every issue of CP for
a couple of years at least. I have also found Andrew Legg's article
that I was bemoaning the loss of last issue. This is very interesting
stuff. Remember this next time you survey to a bolt, for example!

I must sincerely thank MC Black for offering to help
with Mac software distibution as it is difficult for me. See box
on back page for details.

UK archive needs a new home

Bill Purvis, keeper of the UK cavers archive site
for the last couple of years makes an appeal. He can no longer
keep the 27Mb of files at his site due to a clampdown by the university
authorities on 'unofficial' Web and FTP site. Thus he need someone
else on the net to take it over. If you know of any sites/people
that would be prepared to take this on please contact him <w.purvis@dl.ac.uk>.

This site keeps all the old cavers digests, all the
publicly available cave surveying software, and a selection of
other things such as digitised pictures in caves, Back issues
of Compass Points, and some cave databases. It is an excellent
facility and the drain on resources of the host site is not great.
Managing the site simply means moving files from the incoming
to the public directory as they are uploaded by their authors.

I have had difficulties sending people Mac surveying
software, mostly because I don't have a Mac. M C Black has kindly
offered to be 'distribution library' for those who don't have
FTP access. He doesn't intend to make money from this exercise,
but neither does he want to lose any, so please send a formatted
floppy and Stamped Self addressed envelope, or a fiver to cover
his costs.

At the time of writing we are having difficulties
transferring everything to his machine (disc errors), but these
will no doubt be resolved. So if there is a slight delay in supplying
requests this is why. Note that MC is not on the Internet, so
there will be a short delay after new releases before he gets
up to date.

In the same vein as the recent discussion of ultrasonic
and laser range finders is the complete solo surveying package
I saw advertized in the March/April issue of "Professional
Surveyor" magazine. The heart of this system is the Leica
Vector laser binoculars that provide range, azimuth, and elevation
measurements up to a distance of 1000 meters with +/-1 meter accuracy.
An LED display allows the user to view all three measurements
within the field of view in 0.2 seconds by pressing two buttons
on the 7x42 power binoculars. An RS232 port allows the readings
to be transferred directly to a portable computer and displayed
in map format in real time using available software called PenMap.
The software also accepts manual input as well as input from
electronic total stations and GPS receivers. It also accepts
digital and raster background maps, which I take it might include
topographic maps.

The cost was $7,000 putting it well out of the reach
of cavers for the time being. Whether or not the system would
be robust enough for caving was not mentioned, and of course +/-1
meter is not really good enough either, but the concept sounds
very promising. Perhaps the range could be vastly reduced (to,
say, 50-100 meters) with a corresponding increase in accuracy.
Even as it is, the system might be very useful for overland surveying
between entrances or for keeping track of ridgewalking finds.

Suunto instrument lighting

I was interested to read your piece in the latest
Compass Points.

I've lit my instruments by using a high brightness
(3mcd) red LED pumped into a bundle of three fibre optic cables
each about 20cm long. So the electrics are well away from the
instruments themselves. The fibre optic pokes through a hole
in the brim of my helmet: one hand holds the compass/clino and
the other directs the tip of the bendy fibre into the instrument,
giving good lighting of the scale. I used to power this from
2x1.5V duracells in a little box at the back of my helmet, but
now that I commonly use a helmet-mounted battery (home-made but
similar to the Petzl arrangement) it runs in parallel to my main
caving lamp off the same battery. When the tip of the fibre gets
muddy, you just lick it clean and spit out the gunge to restore
a nice bright light again.

I use an LM2915 (that's the part number I think off
the top of my head) LED flasher IC and 1x1.5V duracell to power
a flashing high-brightness LED as the remote station that I sight
on when surveying. All this is in a matchbox-size enclosure.
More convenient than sighting on your partner's cap lamp and
more consistent too, as the other person can just rotate the box
when you've leapfrogged and are doing the back leg.

The fibre optic cable comes from Maplin. It costs
about £1 a metre. It doesn't break provided you don't bend
it sharply over an edge. This fibre is quite thin: I'm sure
there must be better thicker stuff for computer network purposes
but I can't find any to acquire.

The unit is dismountable and is removed when not
actually surveying and goes in a BDH along with compass etc.
It connects to the normal 4.5v battery pack at rear of my helmet
(in parallel with the cable to my cap lamp). Its cable is wound
around the cap lamp cable as far as my ear where the LED is located,
the rest of the link is fibre optic to the front of the helmet
and through the brim just under my cap lamp.

The fibre bundle is held as a bundle by bits of shrink
sleeving. The bundle is held up against the LED by a bigger bit
of shrink sleeving. The whole LED connection is then sealed in
a 5cm length of flexible plastic tube: wires coming out of the
rear, fibre out of the front. Plastic tube sits roughly above
my left ear.

There is now a second generation design. Having seen
that, in fact, a high-brightness surface mount LED does not affect
the reading at all, I built a simpler version. This has a fairly
stiff bit of wire with an appropriate resistor going back to
my helmet battery. The SM LED is mounted on the end of the wire
and sealed in a block of resin. The light is very bright. The
LED can be found in Farnell's catalogue.

I read your review of Compass in the British newsletter
file on the ftp site. I thought it was very well done and indicated
a thorough testing of the program (so did Larry).

I agree with you in disliking to have to follow PgDn
with "y" to enter every new shot in CAVEDT. Until Larry
decides to change this feature, I have hacked around it by assembling
a little TSR that simply adds "y" to the output of the
PgDn key. I run CAVEDT from a batch file that loads this TSR
before invoking the program, then unloads it on exit. If you are
using COMPASS regularly and would find this useful, I'd be glad
to post you a UUencoded copy. (I have several versions of the
TSR; if you use an enhanced keyboard, the most useful one would
probably be the one which remaps only the extended PgDn key, leaving
the one in the numeric keypad alone.)

I wanted to thank you for the very complimentary
review of COMPASS that appeared in the "Compass Points"
newsletter. From the review it is obvious that you really spent
a lot of time testing the software and reading the manual. It
is reassuring to know that people actually read it.

Several things have been improved and fixed since
you wrote the review and I thought you might be interested in
an update. I was also interested in the ideas behind your comments
and I'd like discuss some of them with you.

1. "(It got this slightly wrong for my rather
complex AUTOEXEC, but then so does much commercial software so
this is not a criticism)."

I have just fixed a couple of problems that occurred
with complex AUTOEXEC files. The big one was caused by the fact
that INSTALL put the path and environment information toward the
end of the file. If the last entry in the AUTOEXEC was a call
to another program or batch file, the path and/or environment
would not get set. INSTALL now puts the path and environment information
toward the beginning of the file. Hopefully, this will solve your
problem. If you have any more information about the problem, let
me know and I will try to deal with it.

2. "In order to deal with the memory limitations
of DOS it deals with big caves in chunks, where big means more
than 4000 stations or about 20 miles/32km."

I have increased the number of stations that can
be handled in a single file to around 5000 station or about 25
miles of cave. This limitation will be virtually eliminated when
the Windows version is complete.

3. "My major gripe was that hitting return
at the end of each line did not default to giving you a new
shot; you have to press 'down cursor' and then answer 'Y' to 'Do
you want to enter a new shot' every time."

I am well aware of this issue. A number of people
want it changed. I am reluctant to deal with it because people
have a tendency to scroll up and down through the data by holding
down the arrow key until it auto repeats. My concern is that they
will create a dozen empty shots without being aware of it and
complain about the editor acting weirdly. One of the local cavers
(Donald Davis) has even gone so far as to write a TSR that sends
the right characters so you get a new shot with a single keystroke.

4. "The editor doesn't really provide any
error checking, it is quite happy to take a negative tape reading
or compass reading of -700."

Actually, there is some error checking. It won't
allow inches greater than twelve, it won't allow minutes greater
than 60 and it carefully checks quad type azimuths for proper
format. I have mixed feelings about error checking. It is sometime
difficult to anticipate all the possible situations the users
of program will get themselves into. I have actually seen situations
where people have deliberately entered negative values to compensate
for some weird situation in the cave.

5. "Another side effect of the sequential-data-processing
design is that it can only deal with a limited number of 'hanging'
survey legs (500) before running out of space. This means that
some care has to be taken to ensure that data is generally processed
from a fixed point rather than in some other random order."

I have just made a change in the way the suspended
shot processing works. In the past, a survey was limited no more
than 500 total suspended shots per file. If at any time, the total
exceeded 500, the compile process would be aborted. In the new
version, when the suspended shot total reaches 500, the program
tries processes and resolve these shots. The resolved shots are
then purged to make room for new unresolved shots.

Thus, you can have thousands of suspended shots per
file, you just have can't have more than 500 unresolvable shot
at any one time. Even with the most convoluted and randomly ordered
survey data, most shots will resolved within a dozen or so surveys.
Of course, the 500 station limit is a function of the limitations
of DOS memory. When the Windows version is finished, the problem
will disappear.

5. "There seems to be no way of fixing points,
or dealing with radio locations, and not much concept of standard
deviations or error values for data."

Actually, fixed station locations can be set in the
"make" files. Stations can be set to absolute X,Y,Z
locations specified in either meters or feet.

This is a little strange and you may have missed
it, but loop error information is displayed in the compiler not
in the loop closer.

Currently, the program displays closure error information
in the form of absolute X,Y,Z values, magnitude of the error vector
and percent of the loop length.

I have given considerable thought to the proper method
of specifying error information and I am interested in adding
standard deviation. I haven't seen much information about the
proper method of analysing errors, but I assume that the standard
deviation method is based on the fact that non-blunder survey
errors have a gaussian distribution.

I assume that the standard deviation is calculated
by the following equation:

(E ^ 2 / N-1) ^.5

Where E is the total error and N is the number of
shots. If you have any information on the method, I'd be interest
in seeing it.

I have encountered some error situations that don't
seem to be detected by either the standard deviation or the percent
error method. Let me describe the situation:

I was looking at some loops in a near by cave. There
was one 2000 foot loop that closed with a 50 foot error. This
gives about 2.5% error. It is not a really good survey, but I
have seen much worse. I created a superimposed plot of both the
closed and unclosed cave, so I could visualise the effects of
the closure process. As I expected, I could see small shifts in
the passage location that show the program distributing the errors
around the loop. When I did the same thing with the profile view,
I was very surprised to find that the closed and unclosed plots
were shifted dramatically from each other. At first, I thought
I had a problem with program, but after careful analysis, I concluded
that loop was much worse than I thought. The problem is that most
of the 50 foot error is in the vertical direction. This is a relatively
flat cave. There is no more than 25 feet of vertical excursion
through this part of the cave. So the 50 foot vertical error is
twice the vertical excursion of the cave and is thus a very bad
loop error.

You can have the same kind of problem in the horizontal
plane if the have a very vertical cave with little horizontal
excursion. It seems to me that the best way highlight this kind
of error to measure the excursion of a loop in each of the X,Y,
and Z directions and display the errors relative to these values.
Any thoughts on the subject?

6. "I found the way the child windows remained
linked to the main window rather unhelpful. When you open a view
on a section of the cave it can optionally be put into its own
box. When you use the movement controls both views move together."

The child windows are an experiment. I think that
in the current version, each window is has independent pan and
zoom. However, I keep experimenting and the child windows keep
getting broken. In the long run, I'm not sure the child windows
are worth the programming complications, especially since you
can run multiple copies of the Viewer program and get essentially
the same effect.

Thanks again for the review.

Wookey replies:

Glad you liked it. I feel strongly that as the
editor of CP I should try to be both informed and impartial. I
would have liked to send you a preview to tell me if I got anything
wrong, but I always end up with a weekend to write the whole thing,
and the people who run the CREG are strict about deadlines (which
is a good job, otherwise I'd never publish anything!), so there
is usually no time for such niceties.

Error checking: I agree that there are few things
more annoying than restrictive software, but that is not a good
reason for letting errors through. A warning of the form 'are
you sure?.' is probably the best solution. This highlights suspicious
readings so the user will notice things that were not intended.
Survex, for example, will let you put in anything but warns about
'peculiar' readings. (One such is a dataset which has a compass
adjustment of -180 due to leaving the compass on top of a fridge
for too long! This gives a lot of very 'odd' compass readings
such as ­134 degrees).

Error statistics and standard deviation: The equation
you give isn't really true for a single shot, but can be assumed
to be true for 'many' shots (like so much in statistics). I am
not an expert and comment is invited from anyone who genuinely
understands this stuff. The basic point is that all measurements
have some variance. the s.d. is 1/variance. The term 'weight'
is often used to refer to variance. Variances sum along a traverse
so by summing each leg's variances (for length, comp, clino and
stn position) you get an expected error 'ellipsoid' (it isn't
actually ellipsoidal) for the traverse. If the actual end does
not lie within the 3sd ellipsoid then there is a 95% chance of
there being a blunder, as opposed to the errors expected from
the method and instruments.

S.D is not a 'method' per se, it is just a way
of recording the error bounds expected of a value. I have published
a number of references for articles on doing least squares analysis
(in CP#1), although as John Halleck has pointed out the 'real'
answer is to read a proper surveying book. I hope to publish an
overview of the problems and techniques of error analysis in future
issues of Compass Points

'Badness' of loops: Trying to give a single number
to the degree of error in a loop is really too simplistic, as
illustrated well by the example you give. You really need separate
horizontal & vertical error values. This is a problem with
trying to 'order' the loops for sequential solution. With a simultaneous
solution there is no need to order the loops so this issue ceases
to be a programming problem, although it is still much more useful
to give separate H & V expected error ratios so that the user
can see that most of the error was H (proabably compass) or V
(probably clino), rather than them just getting a percentage error.

Child windows: I think that more than one view
of the same data is a good thing, preferably without loading more
copies of the application, I just don't like them all moving together.
The cuurent version of WinCompass seems much improved in this
respect.

Can anyone comment on the quality and durability
of hand held SILVA survey instruments compared to SUUNTOS, especially
as the Suuntos are a bit more expensive?

Eric Madelaine replies:

We just have bought a set of those, and had the opportunity
to test the latest references from the 2 brands...

We discarded the Tritium-lighted models very quickly;
even in the shop, it was significantly less readable than Lithium
models. Now Lithium instruments have a little structural problem:
they have a button (that in fact is the battery itself), and even
with its waterproof rubber, it is rather likely that the contact
will not be very reliable. In fact I had to adjust the contact
on our brand new compass to get it to work correctly.

Now the comparison will be essentially on readability,
and maybe on availability of the various models. Based on my on-the-shelf
tries, we had chosen Suuntos. The compass, after the little adjustment,
is OK, and is certainly the most clear and neat instrument that
I have used underground; very smooth and stable also.

The clino had a flaw, and we returned it, but they
were unable to repair/replace it in a reasonable time, so we ended
with a Silva (for the price of the Suunto, (;-)), that has very
good optical and stability qualities also.

The models we have are the Suunto KB14/400 RB for
the compass (in grads; we French people have drastic ideas on
metric systems...). and Silva CM 360 LALU (in degrees, they had
no grades available) for the clino.

Now I would be VERY interested to get info about
the prices in the US, and compare to what we have in Paris:

- we got the Suunto KB 14/400 RB at ~ 710FF (~£89)
(June 1994)

- the Silva CM 360 LALU was ~ 830FF (~£104)
(catalogue price, Dec. 94, but we had it as an exchange)

PS: my remark on metric system is not only a joke,
it also has a practical aspect: when you survey using backward
shots, or mixed backward/forward shots, or when you use two instruments,
on each end of the shot, to double-check during a survey by beginners,
it is much easier to mentally complement grades (add/subtract
200) than degrees

Here's what we know: Although it's hearsay, we
understand that the designer of the Suunto instruments left that
company in order to form Sisteco (now bought out by Silva), which
would make the (now) Silvas the second generation design.

Similar in size and weight to the Suunto, the Silva's
only significant difference is that the graduations and lettering
on the card are slightly larger, making them a bit easier to read.
And they are 10-15% cheaper than Suuntos, although both are continuously
rising in the US, due to the dollar's fall.

Both makes can be accurately read to a half-degree.

We've had many customers who swear by the one and
denigrate the other, though the current sales trend is tending
toward the Suuntos.

Here are a couple of new wrinkles that may influence
prospective purchasers.

The familiar Suunto model is the KB-14. They also
make a KB-77, which is identical except that there's no eyehole.
Instead, it features a prismatic block above the card that allows
you to read the top, rather than the edge of the card, and magnifies
it, too. A bit more bulky, but much easier to sight (across,
rather than through). Both models, and their clinometric counterparts,
are also made in illuminated versions. (Silva has a similarly
lit compass, but no clino!) A tiny lithium battery and bulb light
the viewfinder of the KB-14B and PM-5B at the push of a button.
The battery lasts several years in normal use, but is
subject to being drained by inadvertent lighting while in a pack...
Suunto also make all their models with permanent lighting
-- a tiny capsule of tritium gas (half-life is 15 years) that
provides guaranteed green-glow illumination. However, we've been
told for years that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not
allow these into the U.S. Lately, though, since Suunto U.S.A.
took over US distribution, we understand that it's just that they
don't think the potential market warrants the hassle of license
fees and government supervision. We have occasionally gotten
our hands on a few of these via travellers' hand-baggage, and
they're quite nice.

The Italian company Morin also makes a nice set of
survey instruments. Slightly larger than Suunto/Silva and round,
they have hefty rubber hand-grip cases and are read prismatically.
They're comparable in price to the Silva. Again, we occasionally
have them; check for availability.

We hasten to add that we're not frequent surveyors
and have not personally trashed any of the above. We'd like to
hear from those who have... BTW , both Suuntos and Silvas that
develop leaks can be repaired by replacing the capsule for a nominal
charge.

Soon after I started using a Suunto compass for cave
surveying I noticed the affect that my light was having whilst
being held above it so as to illuminate the card. The surveying
was stopped whilst I found out how close I could hold the lamp
to the compass.

Having found the use of my main light less than satisfactory
for the job in hand I set about finding just what I could use.
A candle was the obvious answer but it is less than satisfactory
in most conditions. The old premier 'Stinky' carbide lights cause
similar problems, and are banned from some caves. So I had to
find out which of the electric lights that I had was suitable
for the job in hand. After some thought I decided that a more
comprehensive study could be made and I broadened my study to
include equipment, both surveying and caving equipment, that might
be taken underground on a surveying trip. Over the course of one
year I have carried out three separate tests, each one more comprehensive
than the last. The results in the first part of the table are
the results of the tests carried out on 3 March 1993. The second
part of the table is all SRT kit. It was recommended that I include
this section in case surveying has to take place on a pitch. These
tests were carried out on 9 September 1994.

To carry out the tests I selected a site that was
clear of magnetic interference. A stake was driven into the ground
and the top checked for level. When correct, the compass (a Suunto
KB 14/360) was placed on top and tied down with string. Finally
anything about my person that might have an effect on the readings
was removed. Each item to be tested was held away from the compass
and slowly brought closer to it. As the first movement of the
card was noticed the distance from the compass was noted. Then
the object was held close to the compass and the total affect
(in degrees) on the card was recorded. In total 20 different combinations
of kit have been tested, each with the compass placed on three
different bearings just in case there were any blind spots. The
results can be seen in the table.

As can be seen from the table, of the lights tested,
the best one to use for illuminating the compass card is a Petzl
Zoom. The type I use is one of the newer, water tight models.
In a previous test carried out with an older model I found that
only the battery pack at the rear had any effect on the reading.
If this is the case then an extension lead could be fitted, with
the battery being carried on a belt. In this later test the battery
was found to have no more effect than the light itself. So whether
there has been a design change or one of the tests is inaccurate
I do not know.

One light that I did not test but has been brought
to my attention since is a Maglite. These are of the same design
as the Mitylite, but are made of aluminium. They are not as water
resistant as the Mitylites, but should be alright in the majority
of caves.

Other than the above two lights, great care is needed.
Take the FX2 for example. 15cm might not sound close but when
in a tight passage it would be all too easy to let it get too
close. The Mitylite and UKE 2AAA are of no use to light of the
compass but they do make good target lights as they both have
small lenses. Of the other equipment tested the tapes are the
most likely to get in the way Trouble might come if you sight
along the tape for some reason. The watch does not need to be
worn by the user of the instruments. It could be carried in a
pocket, better still carried by someone else. The lamp belt and
the karabiner were tested just in case.

I have tested the SRT kit as I have recently been
forced, while surveying some pitches, to use a horizontal leg
whilst halfway down as I could not get a straight hang from the
top to the bottom. It would seem that if care is taken then the
pieces of kit would not come close enough to affect the compass.

I do not claim the results to be one hundred percent
accurate. They are just the results that I got with certain pieces
of kit on one day alone. They are at best to be taken as a guide
and a warning. I have only tested the sort of kit that I would
be likely to carry. Cave divers could face even more problems.
Also the tests were only carried out with equipment that I had
to hand. As mentioned above, two different Petzl Zooms have shown
different characteristics at different times. It might be that
there are other forms of electronic lighting that could be used.
But the results from the tests have done their job by helping
me to find a lighting system that suits my needs. It is hoped
that by publishing the results they might help other surveyors
who are not aware of the problem.

Table 1. Effect of objects upon compass readings.

TME = Total magnetic effect Notes

D = Distance from compass

270

TME : D

30

TME : D

150

TME : D

Caving Helmet 1

25 : 5cm

10 : 15cm

20 : 10cm

FX2 Battery On

35 : 15cm

25 : 25cm

20 : 20cm

Off

35 : 15cm

25 : 25cm

40 : 20cm

FX2 Lamp On

20 : 15cm

20 : 15cm

10 : 15cm

Off

15 : 10cm

15 : 8cm

10 : 10cm

FX2 on helmet On 2

15 : 15cm

15 : 10cm

4 : 10cm

Off

8 : 10cm

15 : 10cm

5 : 8cm

FX2 on helmet when worn On

0.5 : -

1.5 : -

2.0 : -

Off

0.0 : -

1.5 : -

1.0 : -

Petzl Zoom, Standard bulb On

1 : 3cm

0.5 : 3cm

0.5 : 3cm

Off

1 : 3cm

0.5 : 3cm

0.5 : 3cm

Mitylite 3

180 : 50cm

180 : 50cm

180 : 50cm

UKE 2AAA 4

30 : 15cm

25 : 25cm

25 : 20cm

Fibron Tape (tab on the end)

40 : 15cm

40 : 10cm

50 : 10cm

Fibron tape (metal case)

20 : 25cm

20 : 20cm

30 : 25cm

Retractable Steel Tape

30 : 45cm

15 : 20cm

40 : 15cm

Digital Watch

10 : 7cm

10 : 8cm

10 : 6cm

Buckle on Lamp Belt

20 : 20cm

40 : 15cm

60 : 15cm

Screw Gate Karabiner

25 : 10cm

10 : 15cm

30 : 15cm

Petzl Croll

90 : 15cm

15 : 15cm

30 : 20cm

5mm Delta Maillon 5

180 : 20cm

180 : 20cm

180 : 15cm

Ascender

90 : 15cm

15 : 20cm

20 : 15cm

Petzl Stop

20 : 20cm

180 : 25cm

90 : 20cm

10mm Semi-circular Maillon 6

180 : 25cm

180 : 25cm

180 : 25cm

8mm Bolt and Hanger

180 : 10cm

180 : 15cm

180 : 10cm

Notes:

1. No effect was found when the helmet was worn, only when the
rivets or the lamp bracket were held close to the compass.

2. No distance reading could be recorded for this test. It was
done by sighting in the normal way, but whilst wearing the helmet

3. This light has a magnet in one end, so this explains the extraordinary
results. Pelican now make a version of the Mitylite that does
not have a magnet. This would probably give results the same as
the UK light.

4. This light, a UKE 2AAA made by Underwater Kinetics, is a light
almost the same as the Mitylite but without the magnet

New versions of surveying software continue to be
released regularly. The development of WinCompass and WinKarst
continue apace with new versions of each. These are still not
official releases but both are much more usable and complete than
the initial versions mentioned last issue. There has also been
small but significant improvement to Survex, and a new version
of Toporobot has just been announced, although I do not yet have
any details of new features.

Survex version 0.61

Olly Betts

There is just a little update to caverot this time
round, so 0.61 is really just a small update to v0.60. However
the change is significant and makes that whole thing a great deal
more usable. Caverot now has non-overlapping labels, so you can
actually read what is going on. The labelling is automatic and
dynamic, so as you rotate and zoom around, labels are put in wherever
space appears, and removed where they would overlap. All survex
0.60 users should get this update. It is on the UK archive site.

Toporobot 7.3b12 released

Martin Heller

I would like to inform you about a new version of
toporobot 7.3b12 (14.5.95)

Unfortunately, most text is not translated yet to
English. And the French version is far from complete. So good
luck... We are working on it, but it will take quite a while.
I hope, you will find Toporobot useful anyway. I'm sure you will
use your cavers' intuition to figure out how the program works
:-).

WinKarst was born of DOS Karst, free of the painful
memory limits of DOS and uncoordinated, homebrewed user interfaces
common of DOS programs. WinKarst is a single iconizable program
that runs under Microsoft's Windows and will not modify any of
your system's .INI files or bootup files. The program allows you
to view and analyse cave surveys, close loops, create plots and
do data inquires.

WinKarst is user friendly. Anyone with limited exposure
to Windows will find it easy to use. All the windows are iconizable
and re-sizeable. The top bar of the window contains a context
sensitive menu system. Below that bar is a tools bar with familiar
icons like "printer" and "file open." In using
the program, there is no correct order to get results, just explore
the pulldown menus. The bottom bar of the window will display
hints as items in the menus are passed over. Most actions can
be invoked by pointing and clicking the mouse. The keyboard can
also be used to select items.

All selection options are clearly displayed in dialog
boxes. Cave survey files are chosen through the standard Windows
Open File dialog box. You can easily browse you computer's directories
for file types accepted by WinKarst. Colour selection is made
in a dialog box by pointing and clicking on the desired colour.
Font selection is made by picking a font name, which is previewed
before the selection is final. Survey or station selection is
made by pointing and clicking on its name in a moveable, re-sizeable
list box, or on the cave plot itself.

The program can now generate more than just simple
line plots. Most cave surveying programs up to date have only
generated line plots. The line plots, even coloured by depth,
are very confusing in complex overlaying mazes. WinKarst can now
use passage dimensions, in terms of Left, Right, Up and Down measurements,
to draw shaded polygons instead of lines. In this way it is possible
to visualise in complex mazes how passages cross over or underneath
each other. If no passage dimension data exists, then the program
will draw passages of human dimensions, six feet wide and tall.
Colouring of the polygons is by depth or by survey and can be
plotted in colour if a colour printer and driver have been install
under Windows.

Because this program is very much under development,
there is the possibility of getting the much feared, "General
Protection Fault." However, unlike DOS, you probably will
not have to reboot your computer and a crash will not upset programs
still active in Windows. However, just as for any program in Windows,
if there are too many General Protection Faults, memory will be
lost and you will eventually have to restart Windows. Every effort
has been made to make WinKarst has robust and error free as possible.

Currently, it is not possible to modify raw survey
data. Data can be created using DOS KARST, or typed directly in
using a text editor, such as Window's WRITE program. Documentation
fully describes the raw survey file format and example files are
provided.

PERFORMANCE

WinKarst was designed with the future of personal
computers in mind. It has been developed for Windows, but will
be specifically recompiled for Windows 95 to take full advantage
of 32 bit processing. The single executable, over two megabytes
of code, is packed with features and is optimised for speed. Like
the old adage, "you get what you pay for," you can expect
a lot from this software. Note that in Windows, a program will
not consume as much RAM as it is large, only what is necessary.

WinKarst is fast. So fast, that early in the program's
development the need for a reduced data file was eliminated. It
was faster to re-reduce the raw data than to read in the reduced
data file! The old reduced data file is now a reduced memory file,
a smaller file for computers with fewer resources. Loop calculations
and closure are so fast the user can experiment with closure parameters
to get the best fit possible.

WinKarst's graphics is even faster than DOS KARST.
There is no drawing penalty for choosing modes in which its 64
colours are used. Because only 64 colours are used, WinKarst will
not corrupt the colours of your wallpaper or other programs sharing
the screen space. The is no penalty for zooming in, regardless
of how much extra information, like station elevation, is displayed.
In fact, due to special "zoning," WinKarst is actually
faster the more you zoom in. There is no lose of shots that cross
a view but which have no stations in the view. Panning is accomplished
by standard Window's scroll bars, with the mouse or with the arrow
keys.

CAVE DATA

WinKarst can handle the most complicated, out of
sequence and confusing cave survey. Duplicate shots are automatically
averaged. Excluded shots are retained for reference. Surveys or
shots without any tie-ins to the main body of the cave are retained
in a special "Exceptions" list for viewing. WinKarst
will treat your cave data as a single quantify, not compromising
loop closure by forcing you to artificially pre-process and sort
the surveys. After loop closure, the data can be saved under a
new name to retain the closed form. Saving the original file will
always retain the un-closed data. WinKarst can read and write
three cave survey file types, each independent of the other and
translate between file type pairs. In native mode, the SUR file
type is preferred. It is an ASCII file which can be edited with
any type of text editor and the file format utilises no hidden
keystrokes. The file can easily be Emailed by any mailer. The
file's language allows one hierarchy of include files. In this
way, several caves can be maintained in separate files and a single
file, with include statements for the individual cave files, can
be used to view all the caves.

WinKarst provides the user with immediate access
to many cave parameters and statistics. These items include cave
length, extremes, shot count, station count, loop count, survey
count, loop closure error, expected loop error, loop shot sequences,
loop length, number of shots connecting to a station, the location
of a station, the shortest distance of a station to the entrance,
the length of a survey and much, much more. While viewing the
cave plot, the mouse can be used to query stations, loops and
surveys. Once selected, a dialog box

will appear with information about the station, loop
or survey. The box also gives the user the choice to open a window
that will display all the shots associated with the object of
inquiry.

INSTALLATION

Installation of WinKarst is simple because it is
a single executable file. There is no need to modify any of your
existing system files, such as your Windows INI files or your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Once the program has been uncompressed, simply
run it from the RUN menu item in the FILES category of the Windows
program manager. Better yet, create an icon for WinKarst using
the PROPERTIES in the FILES category of the program manager or
any folder. Refer to your Windows manual for exact details on
create icons.

WinKarst does require one DLL file, BWCC.DLL. You
may already have a copy of this file if you have bought any Borland
products such as Quattro Pro. The file should exist in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM
directory, or in the same directory as WINKARST.EXE. A copy of
BWCC.DLL is distributed with the compressed file that contains
WinKarst.

Because WinKarst is under construction and does not
at this time contain a survey editor, it can be used and distributed
for an unlimited time. Future releases of the program will be
as shareware, costing $25.00 to satisfied users.

I have a new release of COMPASS for Windows (12-May-95).
This version has more than 15 new features and improvements. Here
are some of the new features:

The program can now display realistic models of
the passage walls. There are four different modes of passage wall
modelling including: polygons, filled polygons, shaded polygons
and cubic splines. Shaded polygons and cubic splines are sophisticated
graphics techniques that produce very realistic cave maps. In
shaded polygon mode the passages are shaded as though there is
light source coming from the north. This gives a realistic three
dimensional appearance to the plot. In cubic spline mode, passage
walls are connected together using smoothly curving lines. Plots
done using cubic splines give smooth continuous passage walls
that resemble real hand-drawn cave maps.

COMPASS for Windows now allows full cave rotation
in both plan and profile views. Rotations can be centred around
any point in the cave not just survey stations. The cave can be
rotated in real time so you can get the exact view you want. Selecting
the exact view you want is easy and intuitive, because the selection
box shows the exact position and angle of rotation before viewing.

COMPASS for Windows now has an optional legend which
includes a compass, ruler and user selectable legend text. The
legend appears on both video screen and the hard copy plot. This
way you can see the legend before you print it. Each item in the
legend can be turned on and off individually. You can also select
separate colours for each part of the legend. You can also select
a different font for the legend title and ruler notation.

You can exclude surveys from plotting based on the
date the survey was done. The exclusion works by selecting a starting
and ending date. All surveys done between those two dates will
be plotted. All surveys before or after that date are excluded.

COMPASS now has special measuring cursors that allow
you to measure location of any point in the cave. It also allows
you to measure the distance, azimuth and inclination between any
two points in the cave. The option works by placing two cursors
on the screen. You can move the cursors to any three dimensional
point within the cave. The program will report the direct distance,
the 2D slope distance, the 3D slope distance, the inclination
and azimuth between the two points. The feature works for any
amount of pan, zoom or rotation.

COMPASS now saves in sequence the last twenty pan,
zoom or rotate commands. This allows you to "undo" and
retrieve any recent view of the cave. This is very useful when
you zoom, pan or rotate and get a view of the cave you didn't
want or expect.

In general, COMPASS for Windows has been enhanced
to give perfect WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) performance.
When you print or plot, the hard copy shows the exact same scale,
panning, zooming and rotation that you see on the screen. This
applies to both portrait and landscape modes. You can control
the exact scale of the video or printout in feet, meters or ratios.

The program has even more accurate preview and overview
modes. This means that it is very easy to select the exact view
of the cave you want. The selection box is scaled so that it matches
the screen size. You don't have to guess what part of the cave
will be visible when you zoom in. In other words, the selection
box will exactly preview the zoomed view or the hard copy plot
that will be printed.

The program now shows instant and accurate Overviews.
For example, after you have done several zooms, pans, and rotations
it is easy to get lost in a large cave. With COMPASS, you can
always return to Over View Mode and see the selection box superimposed
on the exact section of cave you were viewing.

The program now gives continuous and accurate scaling.
This means that as you pan, zoom, or drag the selection box, you
get a continuous readout of the scale of the plot in feet or meters.
The scale is accurate for both the video screen and the printer/plotter
you are using.

The user can now select corner or centred zooming.
In corner zooming the selection box or view collapses toward the
lower left corner of the image. In centred zooming, the image
collapses toward the centre of the view. Centred zooming is useful
when you are focusing on a single point in the cave. Corner zooming
is useful when are focusing on an area or several points in the
cave.

You can now colour cycle surveys so that each individual
survey is a different colour. You can also colour each survey
according to the year the survey was completed.

Drawing or updating the screen can be interrupted
anytime by clicking the mouse button. This means that you don't
have to wait for the program to complete an operation before you
can do anything.

The program now supports colour printing and plotting.
The program automatically converts to black and white if the printer
or plotter does not support colour.

COMPASS now has four different scaling modes. Scales
may be set to feet per inch, meters per inch, meters per centimetre
and map ratio.

There are now more than 50 pages of hypertext style
Windows help documentation built into the program. It includes
more than 40 different topics.

MC is happy to provide this service but doesn't want
it to cost him anything so please supply a Mac formatted floppy
per application plus an SEA and sufficient stamps. Otherwise send
a fiver to cover costs.

For those with FTP access: the US archive site: speleology.cs.yale.edu.

WinCompass:

WCOMPAS.EXE, (155K) a DOS self extracting archive.

WinKARST:

WINKARST.ZIP (DOS ZIPfile)(820K)

Survex:

SVX060.ZIP(680K) is the DOS version
CVROT61.ZIP(45K) is the DOS caverot update ZIPfile.
SRC060.ZIP or SRC060.tar.gz (350K) are the source/UNIX
releases

I have only had a moment to look at the latest releases
of WinCompass & WinKarst but they both look very good. WinCompass
is now more complete and all the functions listed seem to work.
The four different displays of passage walls (different effects
and speeds of calculation) make much nicer looking plots than
we have become used to - check out the fornt cover. Choice of
colouring by depth, survey or year is useful, as is the cursor
measurment tool.

WinKarst takes a different approach and makes very
good use of the multiple document interface, with all your survey
files iconized and plots visible at the same time. This software
also now supports walls. A wide range of info is available - number
of loops, probable blunders, extents, and some in graphical form
- e.g. highlighting all loops or all junctions. Both these pieces
of software are definately worth a look.